THE FUTURE OF LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY: INTELLECTUAL INTEGRATION AS A PATH TO SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS

Limnologists and oceanographers often live in different worlds as evidenced by the scientific problems considered, technical approaches used, and the cultural and institutional arrangements supporting investigation. Given these differences, the logic of combining limnology and oceanography (hereafter L&O) might be questioned. Nevertheless, there is a rich history of ideas that run across salinity gradients and find important application in both disciplines. Examples of topics that have found wide use in both fields include stoichiometry, trophic cascades, microbial food webs, and nutrient loading models. In each case, the concept largely arose within one discipline but spilled-over profitably to the other. These observations suggest that one path of progress is to foster the integration of L&O with more (not less) scientific exchange. One avenue for integration is to promote collaborative projects between L&O, but in addition, we should seek theories for aquatic sciences that can be evaluated and tested in both realms. Despite differences between the disciplines in many of the practical aspects of science, future advances will likely arise from intellectual currents that flow jointly through limnology and oceanography.